"The jury of the
Council of Europe Raoul Wallenberg Prize has awarded the 2016
Prize to Agkalia, a Greek association on the island of Lesvos,
for outstanding achievements in providing frontline assistance
to thousands of refugees irrespective of their origin and religion.

As Lesvos has become
a European gateway for refugees, Agkalia has been providing temporary
shelter, food, water and medical aid to people in need, assisting
some 17,000 refugees and migrants since May 2015. Through its
work to assist refugees, Agkalia also promotes tolerance and
human rights"

"The delegations
having general or scrutiny reservations reiterated their positions
and underlined their wish for a thorough assessment of the functioning
of the emergency relocation schemes and stressed the need to
address the shortcomings in their implementation.

Austria accused of 'stupidity' in crisis (The Local.at, link): "Hungary
has accused Austria of confusing "solidarity and stupidity"
after Vienna said that nations which do not accept their share
of refugees under European Union quotas should face sanctions....

Police union slams plan to strip refugee jewellery (The Local.dk, link): "Denmark's
Minister for Integration has hit back at police criticism of
the government's highly controversial proposal to confiscate
valuable items from refugees by saying "most people"
can judge the value of jewellery."

German 'welcoming culture' still strong: poll (The Local.de, link): "A
new survey conducted by the Protestant church shows that Germans
willingness to help refugees remains steadfast, despite concerns
the country will struggle to cope with the large influx."

Turkish envoy to Greece calls for cooperation (ekathimerini.com, link): "Greece
and Turkey need to work closely on tackling migratory flows because
they are both victims of the refugee crisis, the
Turkish ambassador in Athens, Kerim Uras, told Greek journalists
on Wednesday."

Thirteen migrants drown off Farmakonisi (ekathimerini.com, link): "Seven
children, two women and four men drowned when their boat sank
off the small Aegean island of Farmakonisi, Greek coastguard
officials said early Wednesday."

Global migration chief 'disturbed' at dangers of
xenophobia
(Reuters, link): "The anti-migrant sentiment taking hold
in a slew of nations facing an influx of refugees is disturbing,
dangerous and puts people's lives at risk, said the head of the
International Organization for Migration (IOM). Concern and suspicion
about migrants is based on stereotypes, fear of national identity
loss and a "post-9/11 security syndrome," said William
Lacy Swing, director general of the Geneva-based "intergovernmental
IOM.

Refugee and migrant arrivals in EU pass 1 million
in 2015: IOM
(Reuters, link): "The number of refugees and migrants
arriving by land an sea in six European Union countries -- Greece,
Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus -- has passed 1 million
this year, the International Organization for Migration said
on Tuesday. Out of a total of 1,005,504 arrivals by Dec. 21,
the vast majority -- 816,752 -- arrived by sea in Greece, IOM
said."

One million migrants and refugees have reached
Europe this year  IOM (Guardian, link): "International Organisation
for Migration announces latest figures, with Greek island of
Lesbos now the main refugee gateway.... The European migration
flow is nevertheless far more manageable than in the Middle East,
where roughly 2.2 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey alone.
In Lebanon, the 1.1 million Syrians form about one-fifth of the
countrys total population, while Jordans 633,000
registered Syrian refugees make up around a tenth of the total.

The denial of basic
rights to refugees in those countries, where almost all Syrians
do not have the right to work, is one of the causes of Europes
migration crisis. Refugees who have lived for several years in
legal limbo are now coming to Europe to claim the rights bestowed
on them by the 1951 UN refugee convention. Over 15 boats arrived
on Lesbos on Monday. Across the Greek islands, the average number
of refugees arriving each day in December is 3,338, lower than
the October peak of 6,828, but far higher than Julys 1,771."

Over 2,000 refugees arrive at Piraeus port on Tuesday (ANAMPA, link): "A large
number of refugees arrived on Tuesday at Piraeus port. The ferry
Nissos Rhodos carried 1,075 refugees for the islands of Lesvos,
Chios and Samos and the ferry Blue Star brought 944 refugees
from Lesvos and Chios."

Migrants
not able to find room in Athens camps (ekathimerini.com. link): "Athens is struggling
to cope with the influx of migrants who are unable to leave Greece
as the two camps which can house them are full, according to
authorities..... Some 4,000 refugees and migrants reached Piraeus
on Monday from the islands of Chios and Lesvos.."

Danish plan to seize refugees' jewellery prompts
controversy
(euobserver, link): "The proposed measure was likened
to the Nazis treatment of Jews in the second world war
and has prompted an MEP to quit the ruling party. .... normally
watches and mobile phones should not be seized, but cash above
3,000 Danish kroner (436) and jewels can be confiscated.
The proposed bill allows police to search the clothes and luggage
of asylum seekers - and other migrants without a permit to stay
in Denmark - with a view to finding assets. If a migrant choses
to withdraw the application for asylum, the valuables should
be returned. If the asylum seeker becomes well-to-do after international
protection was granted, the new valuables can also be seized...."

EU
and Swiss still at odds on migrant quotas (euobserver, link): "The
EU and Switzerland remain split on a Swiss plan to stem the number
of migrants from member states. EU Commission president Jean-Claude
Juncker told reporters in Brussels on Monday (21 December) that
the two sides are still looking for a solution after Switzerland
voted to impose migrant quotas in a referendum in 2014."

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